Effective Employee Engagement in the Workplace
The survival of corporate industries is dependent on maximizing profits from existing capabilities, while recognizing and adjusting to the fact that what may work today may not necessarily work in the future (Kortmann, Gelhard, Zimmermann, & Piller, 2014). To make or maintain their companies’ profitability, leaders of companies must work hard to engage employees (Kortmann et al., 2014). However, leaders may sometimes struggle to adapt their organization in response to change if they limit their focus to existing products and processes (Hill & Birkinshaw, 2012). Understanding how to manage the balance between employee relations, adopting innovation, and maximizing short-term profits is critical to business leaders ensuring a viable future for their corporations (Hill & Birkinshaw, 2012).
The use of advanced technologies, skilled labor, best practices, and education has helped to increase the efficiencies in many major organizations and firms. However, disengaged employees who have lowered productivity since the 2008 financial meltdown have affected the financial performances of many U.S. organizations (Purcell, 2014). The longevity of an organization is affected by employee engagement, which is a factor on the financial performance of the organization (Bersin, 2014). In contrast, improved employee productivity had a positive effect on organizational financial performance.
Kompaso and Sridevi, (2010) explained the strategies of employee engagement as follows;
§
Start from the beginning –
Successful and potential employee recruitment and orientation program are given
access to basic information, programs, services and other applicable
knowledge about the organization, to inspire employees and provide them
with the tools and motivation to perform and become active and
contributing.
§ Peak is the starting point – From the top management, it
should down the line with a clear vision and mission with a good practice,
where the top leaders can be a sample to others.
§ Beginning from two-way communication – When Information
exchange between superior and employees, superior should give a chance to
listen to the employee’s views and ideas while appreciating their input.
(Kompaso and
Sridevi, 2010)
Video 1 –
Top 15 Employee Engagement Strategies
(Source : Kapoor, J. 2020)
15 most effective and best strategies for employee engagement (Kapoor 2020)
1.
Encourage
Knowledge Sharing
2.
Building Open
and Transparent Communication
3.
Involve
Employees in Business Planning Processes
4.
Build internal
Information Bulletin
5.
Help in creating
individual Growth Path
6.
Create a Culture
of Social Responsibility
7.
Initiate
Wellness Programs
8.
Regular Employee
Surveys and feedback (Show them you listen)
9.
Encourage
Employee Learning Initiatives
10.
Select the Right
Managers and Coach them for Employee Engagement
11.
Competitive and
well defined Compensation Structure
12.
Rewards and
Recognition System
13.
Be Fair and
Realistic
14.
Provide Regular
breaks to Rest
15.
Work-Life
Balance
When
the employees are engaged, they don't just become happier they become better
performers (Burns, K. 2019).
Organization falter in creating a culture of engagement when they solely
approach engagement as an exercise in making their employees feel happy simply
measuring satisfaction and catering to their wants often fails to achieve the
underlying goals of employee engagement. When employee engaged they become
emotionally attached to the workplace (Vantage Circle, 2020).
References
Bersin, J. (2014, March 15). Why companies fail to engage today’s workforce: The overwhelmed employee. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2014/03/15/whycompanies-fail-to-engage-todays-workforce-the-overwhelmed-employee/#34880e894726
Hill, S. A., & Birkinshaw, J. (2012).
Ambidexterity and survival in corporate venture units. Journal of Management,
40, 1899–1931. doi:10.1177/0149206312445925
Kompaso, S. and
Sridevi, M. (2010). Employee Engagement: The Key to Improving
Performance. International
Journal of Business and Management, 5(12).
Kapoor, J. (2020). Top 15 Employee Engagement Strategies, CuteHR https://www.cutehr.io/employee-engagement-strategies/
Kortmann, S., Gelhard, C., Zimmermann, C., & Piller, F. (2014). Linking strategic flexibility and operational efficiency: The mediating role of ambidextrous operational capabilities. Journal of Operations Management, 32, 475–490. doi:10.1016/j.jom.201.09.007
Purcell, J. (2014). Disengaging from engagement. Human
Resource Management Journal, 24, 241– 254. doi:10.1111/1748-8583.12046
Vantage circle, (2020) Employee engagement. Employee
engagement. What is employee engagement.
Adding onto your post, another key engagement drive is ‘Empowerment’. By proving the required resources, training and opportunities, organizations empower staff with autonomy for decision making. Mangers who empower employees, encourage them to take educated
ReplyDeleterisks, seek novel solutions, and treat mistakes as learning opportunities, thus making employees engaged in the long run (Marciano, 2010).
Thanks Sonali your comments are well noted. Executives from around the world say that enhancing employee engagement is one of their top five global business strategies. Not only does engagement have the potential to significantly affect employee retention, productivity and loyalty, it is also a key link to customer satisfaction, company reputation and overall stakeholder value. Increasingly, organizations are turning to HR to set the agenda for employee engagement and commitment to establish a competitive advantage (SHRM, 2017)
DeleteJohn Storey et al (2009), lists seven common factors to increase employee engagement. These seven elements can be woven into an employee value proposition, representing what employees get in return for their dedication to the firm.
ReplyDelete1. Vision:The work unit has a clear sense of the future that engages hearts and minds and
creates pride among employees.
2. Opportunity: The work on offer provides a chance to grow both personally and
professionally, through participation in the work unit’s activities.
3. Incentive:The compensation package is fair and equitable, including base salary, bonus,
and other financial incentives.
4. Impact:The work itself makes a difference or creates meaning, particularly as it connects
the employee with a customer who uses the employee’s work.
5. Community: The social environment includes being part of a team when appropriate,
and working with co-workers who care.
6. Communication:The flow of information is two-way, so employees are in the know about
what is going on.
7. Experimentation:The work hour, dress, and other policies are flexible and designed to
adapt to the needs of both the firm and the employee.
The needs of businesses to maximize the inputs of employees have also contributed to the interest in engagement. Business needs are driven by intense, often global, competition, which is increasing the need for employees to be emotionally and cognitively committed to their company, their customers and their work. Employee engagement predicts positive organizational outcomes, including productivity, job satisfaction, motivation, commitment, low turnover intention, customer satisfaction, return on assets, profits and shareholder value (Bakker, Demerouti & Schaufeli, 2003)
DeleteIn the engagement process, activating an individual to make effort which offers attainment of a given goal or target through an individual’s performance and commitment benefits both the individual and the organization. Thus, Motivation can be seen as a key driver in the linking of an individual s performance while expecting results in the attainment of organizational goals, performance and as a consequence. Organizations use motivation in the attainment of these desired business outcomes and key factors such as extrinsic motivators described as salary, bonus and commission directly impacts an individual while intrinsic factors like working conditions, employee engagement and job security also plays a major role (Wijesundara, 2018).
DeleteMany thanks Mihiran for your comments on my blog. I agree with your comment. motivation is a condition which influences the arousal, direction and maintenance of behavior. Human needs must be satisfied, and this can cause the arousal of motivational forces (Mile,2004).
DeleteAgreed with your statement, "to make or maintain their companies’ profitability, leaders of companies must work hard to engage employees (Kortmann et al., 2014).
ReplyDeleteAdding to that Ray and Philips (2016) implies that poor leadership and management, Limited professional growth, Unclear vision on organizational mission, Limited carrier opportunities and unmanageable work load can be causes for less employee engagement. Hence Leaders should focus on these issued while taking towards the profitability.
Many thanks Isuru for your comments on my blog. I agree with your comment. In a study of companies with over 500 employees, researchers found that 71% of managers felt that employee engagement was one of the most important factors in overall company success. Despite employee engagement being viewed as a positive company-wide, the majority of employees are disengaged at work. According to Gallup data, only 33% of employees reported they are engaged at work. Low engagement can be caused by several factors including lack of recognition by managers, poor company communication and not being aligned with the mission of the company. (Brook, 2019)
DeleteWallace (2009) stated orientation program is one of the methods can be used to increase employee engagement of new comers. That help to increase employee confidence, commitment to the organization, improve positive relationship and good communication between the new employee, the supervisor and other close coworkers. Accordingly all these things are lead to increase employee engagement.
ReplyDeleteThank you Janaka for your comments. While I agree with you. Most organizations offer an employee orientation training program coordinated by the human resource department (Blackwell, 1997). New employee oorientationsserve many purposes and have many meanings from both an organizational and an employee perspective. Researchers have found that successful new employee orientation programs help new employees become familiar with their organizational environment and help them understand their responsibilities (Robinson, 1998). They have also been found to be positively related to job satisfaction (Gates & Hellweg, 1989) and employee socialization (Klein, 2000), and have been recommended to aid in employee job enrichment and morale building (Kanouse & Warihay, 1980). Research has also shown that employers benefit from new employee orientations in that they receive well-trained, highly motivated new employees as quickly as possible (Robinson, 1998).
DeleteAdding more to you post, past researches have declared that the level of work engagement is affected in general terms by the amount of experience gained by the employee while working with the organization. Swaminathan and Ananth (2009) suggested that the demographic characteristics of the employees viz; income and experience significantly influence engagement level of employees. They explained that employees who have more working experience and high earnings show commitment and involvement towards their work than others. Mahboubi et al. (2015) identified significant association between work engagement and length of employee work experience. Mohapatra and Sharma (2010) also found work experience as a consistent predictor of employee engagement. Thus, those employees having more years of experience are more likely to show higher level of engagement and vice-versa.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Malithra for your comment. Employee engagement has emerged as one of the greatest challenges in today’s workplace. With complexities and stringent regulations in many organizations, employee engagement will continue to challenge organizations in the future (Mishra, Boynton, & Mishra, 2014). This aspect challenges management because engagement is a critical element in maintaining the organization’s vitality, survival, and profitability (Albercht, Bakker, Gruman, Macey, & Saks, 2015; Breevaart et al., 2013 Farndale & Murrer, 2015). Organizations that have highly engaged employees have greater profits than those that do not (Society for Human Resource Management [SHRM], 2014). OOrganizationswith highly engaged employees experience increased customer satisfaction, profits, and employee productivity (Ahmetoglu, Harding, Akhtar, & Chamorro-Premuzic, 2015; Carter, 2015; Cooper-T⁷homas et al., 2014; Vandenabeele, 2014).
DeleteNice Blog! Digital employee engagement platform - SOS helped organizations to build a digital platform to help the corporate employees be more productive through positive engagement and brand connection.
ReplyDelete